The World’s Christmas – Multilingual Calendar

The World’s Christmas – Multilingual Calendar is organized by the Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism and published in collaboration with the Icelandic UNESCO Committee, Vigdís International Center, the City of Reykjavík´s Center for Language and Literacy, and the compulsory schools Hólabrekkuskóli and Fellaskóli.

Every day in December a Christmas greeting can be opened in one of the 100 languages ​​spoken in Iceland and over 7000 languages ​​spoken in the world.

In schools, the Christmas calendar can be used as part of raising awareness about languages and the treasure of being able to speak more than one or two languages. The calendar can be distributed freely and used in the context that may be relevant. Teachers are encouraged to start every school day in December by opening a “window” to the world, comparing the languages, looking at where they are spoken, etc. Children and young people could decorate the walls of the school with Christmas greetings in different mother tongues.

The Christmas calendar comes with instructions and ideas for using it in the classroom. The purpose is, among other things, to draw attention to the fact that diversity and multilingualism are a great asset, which is an emphasis related to both the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The World’s Christmas – Multilingual Calendar can be found here.